BREAKING: President Obama Wants To Propose 'Mandatory Voting.' It would change everything.

[Warren DeMontague]

322. 1) is way more feasable than forcing everyone to vote.

2) again, more reasonable than forcing everyone to vote. Also IF you were to force everyone to vote without either 1) and/or 2) first, how do you think the system would handle the people who had some sort of job or physical imediment to getting to the polls?

as for 3) I laid it out fairly simply- find out what sorts of issues non-voters feel aren't being addressed by our current candidates, AND take a look ( ) at what issues HAVE been bringing non-aligned or non engaged people who otherwise don't vote, to the polls in recent years.

(I can think of at least one, off the top of my head.)

As for the rest of it, yes, I have a reflexive aversion to the sort of control-freaky fetish some people here have for MANDATING that people do shit. Mandating people vote is not the same thing as a helmet law. No one is going to end up with a smooshed cranium because they didn't vote. AND the principle of free expression, particularly political expression, is a pretty important one- not one, in my mind, to be lightly fucked with.. and NOT speaking, the right to not say anything (equivalent to the right to NOT vote) is also a form of free speech and expression of opinion.

But, fine, I can see this is really important, fantasizing about this -which, again, isn't going to happen, no matter what sorts of authoritative blarts are issued about it on DU- obviously scratches some sort of fundamental itch. So enjoy, Knock yourself out.